Sunlight in Seattlehttp://sunlightinseattle.com
A Journal on Life by a Seattle NewcomerThu, 06 Apr 2017 00:01:10 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.1http://sunlightinseattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/sis-icon-150x150.pngSunlight in Seattlehttp://sunlightinseattle.com
3232It’s Getting Real.http://sunlightinseattle.com/its-getting-real/
http://sunlightinseattle.com/its-getting-real/#respondWed, 05 Apr 2017 04:46:06 +0000http://sunlightinseattle.com/?p=145So, we got the word a couple of days ago – the loft is ours! We are SO excited. Things are starting to feel very real. Our last day of work is next week, and we will have two weeks after that to finish packing and get everything ready to go. We are still in the process of job searching, interviewing, etc. and that is a bit stressful, but we are definitely very excited to only have to worry about the job component of things now that we have our place set in stone. I have been spending every possible free minute of my day pinteresting the crap out of loft decor ideas (see below). The addiction is real.

Our loft has a concrete floor on the main floor, and wood flooring in the bedroom loft area. I would love to have a base color palette of neutrals with pops of color throughout. I want to have a minor southwest vibe throughout, because rugs with a southwestern pattern typically have the most beautiful color scheme that I think will go great against the neutrals and grays of Seattle/a concrete loft.

Any loft-dwellers out there? I would love to hear how you like it, decorating tips, etc. Also, how do you stay warm with a concrete floor?!

I’ve spent the past few months reading inspirational books on making the most of your life. They have been a lifesaver because of one simple reason: It’s really freaking hard to commit to making a huge life change that will shake up everything you know when there isn’t a defining factor making you do it. Books like I Am That Girl, The Do Over, and You Are A Badass have been reassuring me that other people have made big leaps and survived to tell the tale.

Let’s say my whole family moved to Washington and I had the choice of staying home or going with them. That would be an easy one, right? I would go where they go. Or what if I was offered my dream job (Personal Assistant, Life Coach, and Hand Holder of Ryan Gosling), but I had to relocate to Seattle. Both of these hypothetical and unlikely situations have one thing in common – there is a clear, external catalyst that would propel me to make the leap.

Life usually doesn’t work out that way, though, and reality is much different. I am deciding to be my *own* catalyst. And that’s a scary thing. Hence the self help books.

This journey has led me to a huge epiphany that I’m sure SO many other people have had (but it’s taken me 26 years, whatevs) – I need to believe and invest in myself enough to be my own catalyst for change. It’s so easy to let things be, to forget that there is a possibility for better, and that sometimes you need to put yourself in situations that are terrifying, new, unknown.

Right now, we are waiting to hear back from a landlord in Seattle to see if we got our dream loft in our favorite area of the city. I really hope we get it, because I have already pinned about 350 pins for loft decorating tips. Hopefully my next journal entry will say the loft is ours…

Moving is a funny thing. I am in the final steps of preparation for my move from Temecula, California to Seattle, Washington. The move is 6 weeks from today, and the decision has been monumental. It’s taken months to get to where I am today – being able to think about it without dissolving into a puddle of tears, snot, and Sarah McLaughlin songs. This move is an 8.0 earthquake that is cracking the carefully laid foundations of my comfortable life. Growing up and living in the same town makes moving seem like the most foreign, bat-shit crazy idea I’ve ever had. Yet, here I sit, with my laptop browser open to 27 tabs of Seattle job postings and an apartment application.

Over the past 9 months it’s occurred to me how strange it is that there really isn’t anything that hasn’t been done or experienced. Anything in your life, terrifying or completely brand new, has been done thousands of times by other people. Even though your new adventure seems sensational from your unique perspective, it is actually quite mundane because of it’s inherent redundancy.

Enter “Sunlight In Seattle”. The reason behind this journal’s namesake is simple – sunlight is what I’m hoping to find in Seattle. I realize the irony (hello, 226 days of gloom a year), but I feel like it perfectly defines my situation, as well as so many others’.

Hope and excitement in the unknown is what propels us to make the jump, to close our eyes and take the first step. Seattle is the sunlight I long for.

Temecula is home and home has been pretty damn cozy. My entire family lives here. I have a job that gives me just enough money to pay the bills, barely. I’ve had the same best friends most of my life, and they are Temecula natives. My boyfriend, Jake, and I have 2 cat children in a spacious apartment. Life is fine, and things are easy. But what about more? I want to visit Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I want to be pushed out of my comfort zone at a new job where I make enough money to actually save up (a savings account?! such a strange concept). I want to see what else is out there.

I know hundreds of thousands of people have experienced this exact moment, and this exact decision, and it was life changing for them too. But I wanted to start this journal as a place for me to think, to make new friends, to share my wisdom as well as the huge gaps in knowledge and life experience I’m sure I have. This journal will be just that – a journal where I will talk about the move, about whatever thoughts tumble through my brain and stick long enough for me to write them down. I want to share pictures of the nature I see in Washington, the desert I see in Southern California when I come home to visit, and everything in between. Also, I am sure I will talk about some makeup too long the way because #addicted #sephora #imsorry.